A no-nonsense investigation is in order in connection with the fatal shooting of a three-year-old daughter of one of two illegal drug dealers, who were also killed in an alleged shootout with policemen in Rodriguez, Rizal days ago.
It is sad to note that one of the police operatives, who posed to buy shabu, was also shot and killed in an actual “shootout” this time around.
The investigation must clearly establish the lapse in the conduct of the police raid leading to the deadly shootings that probably did not have to happen. At least 20 cops, including the chief of the Rodriguez town police, have been relieved pending probe of the incident.
I would like to believe that the ill-fated child, Myka Ulpina, was hit unintentionally, in all likelihood by a stray bullet in the crossfire between her father Renato and the operatives. Another suspect was gunned down.
The policeman killed, Master Sergeant Conrado Cabigao, Jr. widowed a wife and two small children. He paid the ultimate price in performance of duty.
It is a shame that the tragedy of an innocent child is now being used by critics and the Yellow opposition as yet another case against the Duterte administration’s relentless and chilling anti-illegal drugs campaign.
I know for a fact that policemen, both the good guys and the bad eggs, are easy targets for critics especially the media.
PNP’s scalawags get the harsh badmouthing they deserve.
But, I’m one who knows for a fact that there are many cops worthy of praise, as well. I’ve been around them as a veteran police reporter since Marcos’ last years in Malacañang.
I’ve also been privileged to have the security services of some fine police officers over the past years. I appreciate their sacrifice of time that they were supposed to spend with their family and their sheer dedication to their sworn duty to serve and protect.
That is exactly what MSgt Cabigao did. He gave it all as what a gallant soldier does in the war zone.
But there is no mention of Cabigao’s heroism in the cries for justice from the human rights groups and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) for whom the young Ulpino is actually just a faceless addition to their freaking stats.
No less than the United Nation’s High Commission on Human Rights is also questioning the unbelievable numbers of poor drug dealers killed in “encounters” which militant groups instead call “extrajudicial killings (EJK).”
Well and good. This latest case may have strong evidence of an actual incident of drug suspects resisting arrest but it still merits full investigation as to serve justice to both the slain girl and police hero.
